Palestinians walk next to the ruins of houses, which witnesses said were destroyed during the Israeli offensive, on the fifth day of ceasefire in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 18, 2014. (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Israel has been preventing Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch workers from entering Gaza to investigate allegations of war crimes and human rights violations, claims a media report backed by group members’ statements.

Both human rights organizations have been unsuccessfully trying
to get permission from the regional Civil Administration to enter
Gaza since July 7, Israeli outlet Haaretz reports.

Israeli authorities cited two reasons for their refusal to grant
appropriate permits: the closure of the Erez border crossing,
located between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and that neither group
is part of a list of aid groups approved by the Israeli Ministry
of Social Affairs.

However, an Israeli newspaper pointed out that the Erez border
crossing was in fact opened to “journalists, UN employees and
Palestinians in need of medical care” during Operation
Protective Edge, which began on July 8.

It also noted that, according to Israel’s COGAT (coordinator of
government activity in the territories) guidelines, exceptions
can be made for organizations that are not included on the list.
The authority states that unrecognized groups “may submit an
exceptional request that will be considered in light of the
prevailing policy based on the political-security
situation”.

HRW representatives have been barred from entering Gaza through
the Erez crossing since 2006, while Amnesty’s representatives
have been refused entry since June 2012. The two were able to use
Egypt’s Rafah border crossing to enter Gaza until Mohamed Morsi’s
government was brought down by the country’s armed forces in
2013. Since then, Egypt has not issued a clear response as to why
it has closed its own border, though its military has been active
in the Sinai.

Amnesty not considered an aid organization

While both HRW and Amnesty International have been actively
trying to obtain permission from Israel to enter the Gaza Strip,
their requests have been turned down on seemingly bureaucratic
grounds.

Amnesty was told that it could not be registered with the Israeli
Foreign Ministry, and the Social Affairs Ministry stated that the
group does not qualify under the aid or humanitarian
organizations category, according to Amnesty International’s
Executive Director in Israel Yonatan Gher.

Reportedly, only UN agencies are included in the list, which is
approved by Israeli authorities.

Both groups have criticized Israel, arguing that the ban has been
hindering investigations into the human rights violations and war
crimes on behalf of Israel’s military and Hamas.

“We’re doing everything we can, both Human Rights Watch and
us, to do all the documentation we can, both on the ground in
Gaza and remotely. But not being able to have researchers there
does create difficulties,” Amnesty worker Deborah Hyams told
Reuters, adding that the group had only one local worker on the
ground.

At the same time, HRW Middle East researcher Bill Van Esveld
stated his group had two representatives in Gaza.

“They’re overwhelmed. There’s so much to look into ... and
physical evidence about the events there is disappearing as time
goes by,” he said.

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Haaretz
he was not aware of complaints by HRW, but noted that Amnesty’s
representatives could not enter Gaza because the organization is
not registered with the Social Affairs Ministry.

“Entrance to the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing is
permitted primarily to humanitarian and aid organizations,
journalists, diplomats, and international political officials.
This is government policy and the criteria that the government
set. I am not aware of any effort to withhold entry permits or
registration from Amnesty for any political reason. As noted, the
organization, by its own admission, does not meet the criterion
set [humanitarian aid],” the spokesman said.

The entry bans come amid international criticism against Israel
for allegedly violating war and humanitarian laws.

Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israel may
be committing war crimes in Gaza. Speaking in Geneva, Navi Pillay
said house demolitions and the killing of children raise the
“strong possibility” that Israel is violating
international law.

This was followed by the UN’s decision to investigate possible
war crimes committed by both Israelis and Palestinians during the
two-month conflict in the Gaza Strip.

The team will look at “all violations of international
humanitarian law and international human rights law … in the
context of the military operations conducted since 13 June
2014,” and present a report in March 2015, according to a
statement by the UN.

Meanwhile, Egypt has officially announced a 24-hour extension in
talks between Israel and Hamas on permanent Gaza truce.

“Palestinians and Israelis agreed on extending the cease-fire
by 24 hours to continue current negotiations,” the Egyptian
government said in a statement.

According to a Palestinian delegation source quoted by AP, the
sides had exchanged draft proposals for a long-term truce that
were to be addressed during the 24-hour extension in talks. The
agreement came minutes before the five-day ceasefire was due to
expire at midnight on Monday.

Six weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip has killed over 2,000
Palestinians, most of them civilians, as well as 64 Israeli
soldiers and three civilians.